Storge ( ; ), or familial love, refers to natural or instinctual affection, such as the love of a parent towards offspring and vice versa. In

social psychology Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...

, another term for love between good friends is ''

philia ''Philia'' (; ) is one of the four ancient Greek words for love, alongside '' storge'', '' agape'' and '' eros''. In Aristotle's ''Nicomachean Ethics'', philia is usually translated as "friendship" or affection. The complete opposite is cal ...

''.

Extent

Storge is a wide-ranging force which can apply between family members, friends, pets and their owners, companions or colleagues. Love of a country, of a

nation A nation is a type of social organization where a collective Identity (social science), identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, t ...

, or of a sports team may count as storge. Storge can blend with and help underpin other types of ties such as passionate love or

friendship Friendship is a Interpersonal relationship, relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague. Althoug ...

. Thus "storge" may function as a general term to characterize the love between exceptional friends, and their desire to care compassionately for one another.

Storge love

Sometimes the term is used to refer to the love between married partners who are committed and plan to have a long relationship together, particularly as a fundamental relational foundation after initial

infatuation Infatuation, also known as being smitten, is the personal state of being overly driven by an uninformed or otherwise unreasonable passion, usually towards another person for whom one has developed strong Romantic love, romantic or sexual feelin ...

( limerence). Another interpretation for storge is to be used to describe a sexual relationship between two people that gradually grew out of a friendship—storgic lovers sometimes cannot pinpoint the moment that friendship turned to love. Storgic lovers are friends first; the friendship and the storge can endure even beyond the breakup of the relationship. They want their significant others also to be their best friends. They will choose their mates based on similar goals and interests— homogamy. Storgic lovers place much importance on commitment and find that their motivation to avoid committing

infidelity Infidelity (synonyms include non-consensual non-monogamy, cheating, straying, adultery, being unfaithful, two-timing, or having an affair) is a violation of a couple's emotional or sexual exclusivity that commonly results in feelings of anger, se ...

is to preserve the trust between the two partners. Children and marriage are seen as legitimate long-term aims for their bond, while passionate sexual intensity is of lesser importance than in other love styles.Gottschalk, p. 252

Advantages

The advantages of storgic love may be how much storgic lovers love their own families and understand each other. In addition, two people who are deeply devoted to one another can feel the intimacy that they share.

Extent

Storge love

Advantages

See also

References

Further reading